Feedstuffs, May 28, 2012
Feedstuffs Reprint
Value proposition of
soybean meal must grow
An ingredient’s value proposition is a function of several
factors, with nutrient profile and cost being the most obvious.
Other factors, such as compositional consistency and market
availability, are also important.
By NICK BAJJALIEH*
F
OR more than a half-century,
soybean meal has brought
tremendous value to the animal
production industries, initially as a
source of crude protein and, also, as the
understanding of amino acid nutrition
evolved, as a source of essential amino
acids.
However, as good as soybean meal
may be, there is always room for
improvement. Efforts funded by the
United Soybean Board (USB) and others
have focused on approaches for further
expanding the value proposition for
soybean meal. Such approaches include
improvements in the product itself
and the development of informational
tools that allow for it to be used more
effectively.
An ingredient’s value proposition is
a function of several factors. Nutrient
profile and cost are among the most
obvious. Other factors, such as
compositional consistency and market
availability, are also important.
In our constantly changing world,
constant improvement has become an
expectation. The poultry and swine
industries have continued to improve
their product and the value it represents
to their end users. As they have adapted
to meet the increasing expectations
of their customers, they have come to
expect more from their ingredient and
service suppliers.
For soybean meal to remain
competitive as a feed ingredient over
time, its value proposition must expand.
USB recognized this fact more than 10
years ago. Since then, a number of USBfunded projects have focused on various
aspects of the soybean meal value
*Dr. Nick Bajjalieh is president of Integrative
Nutrition Inc. and serves as soybean
technical expert for the United Soybean
Board.
proposition.
Since improving a plant-based product
is a complex process, it has required a
comprehensive approach. Components of
this process have included:
• Identifying soybean meal
improvement targets with feed industry
guidance;
• Assessing the feasibility of making a
beneficial change, and
• Enabling this change through the
creation of tools and information.
Improvement targets
Soybean meal is used in animal feed
formulations due to its compositional
characteristics. One obvious approach
for expanding soybean meal’s value
proposition is to change the composition
of the soybean.
Since soybean meal serves primarily as
a supplemental source of essential amino
acids, changing amino acid levels to
better complement end-user needs is one
important approach. This is a classical
approach to product improvement
whereby the characteristics that make
it most attractive to customers are
enhanced.
While soybean meal is used
primarily in poultry and swine feeds
as a supplemental source of limiting
essential amino acids, its “value bundle”
is contributed to by other “tag-along”
nutritional characteristics. One such
example is the level of nutritionally
available energy, such as metabolizable
energy, it provides.
In a least-cost formulation, the soybean
meal value proposition is a function of
all attributed nutritional characteristics.
So, any beneficial change to a nutritional
characteristic recognized and valued by a
nutritionist expands its value proposition.
With the guidance of industry
nutritionists, a series of nutritional
targets for soybean meal improvement
were developed more than 10 years
ago. Since then, these targets have
periodically been re-evaluated, and the
latest version is presented in the Table.
Feasibility of change
Identifying trait improvement targets is
relatively easy. Being able to describe a
process to create those improvements is
the greater challenge.
Due to the many issues associated
with transgenic approaches to plant
improvement that existed at the time,
USB chose to access the potential for
effecting improvement through classical
plant breeding techniques.
Change through classical plant
breeding is predicated on the extent to
which compositional variation exists
between the genetic background of
soybeans.
To gain an understanding of the extent
to which such variation might exist, an
initial project solicited exotic sources of
soybean genetics and then determined
Soybean meal trait improvement targets
Primary traits
Increased metabolizable energy
(from improved carbohydrate characteristics)
Increased methionine+cysteine
Secondary traits
Improved utilization of protein/amino acids
Increased levels of:
Lysine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Reduced phytate-bound phosphorus
Multiplier relative to “typical” meal
Swine: 1.1X, Broilers: 1.13X
1.5X
1.05X
1.23X
1.21X
1.23X
-1.5X
Example: If “typical” soybean meal lysine level is 3.02%, the target is 1.23 x 3.02% = 3.71%.
Note: Must ensure that improvements in one area do not result in overriding losses in another
area.
© 2012 Feedstuffs. Reprinted with permission from Vol. 84, No. 22, May 28, 2012.
2
Reprint
Feedstuffs, May 28, 2012
their compositional characteristics. The
goal was to probe the boundaries for a
number of compositional characteristics.
This initial work involved the wet
chemistry analysis of more than
300 soybean samples for multiple
compositional characteristics, including
amino acid levels. The laboratory results
showed a greater degree of compositional
variation than many had anticipated.
Observed differences were important
since they indicated the potential for
plant improvement through classical
plant breeding approaches.
Enabling change
Plant breeding could be considered
a “numbers game” since it requires
the analysis of large numbers of
samples. This is true not only
for initial trait discovery but the
subsequent backcrossing of identified
characteristics into yield-competitive
genetic backgrounds. The cost of using
wet chemistry analysis, especially
where amino acids are concerned, was
prohibitive.
As a result, a subsequent project
embarked on a process that evaluated
the feasibility of using near-infrared
spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict amino
acid levels in soybeans. Promising results
from this initial effort led to an expanded
process for developing, refining and
evaluating NIRS to predict amino acids in
soybeans. This effort involved a number
of NIRS technology companies.
The resultant tools and experiences
have been employed to describe the
extent to which compositional variation
exists in soybeans both in exotic/
research lines and in the U.S. crop as it
comes out of farmers’ fields. Describing
the current crop is critical to establishing
benchmarks for evaluating future
progress.
Compositional variation
Compositional variations in exotic/
research lines describe the extent to
which future improvements are possible
through classical plant breeding, thus
showing the long-term opportunity for
improvement.
An encouraging amount of
compositional variation has been
observed within these types of samples.
Individual sample results for a subset
of lines from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Soybean Germplasm
Collection have been made available to
the soybean plant breeding community
and other interested parties through
www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/eval.
pl?494186.
Compositional variation in the current
soybean crop describes a near-term
opportunity for capturing greater value.
Using samples collected directly
from farm fields by USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service, another
project has described the extent to which
soybean composition can vary within
and between multi-county districts. USB
found that composition can vary as much
within a multi-county district as it does
across broad geographic regions.
Use of this information holds promise
for making near-term improvements in
the composition of the domestic soybean
crop. This information can be accessed at
www.unitedsoybean.org/ussm-avail-data.
As part of a comprehensive approach,
other projects have sought to gain a
better understanding of the relationship
among compositional characteristics,
genetic background, environment and
yield.
Example
Plant breeders have developed lines of
soybeans with reduced levels of raffinose
and stachyose. Poultry and swine lack
the enzymes required to digest these
carbohydrates. If a decrease in raffinose
and stachyose is associated with an
increase in constituents that can be
digested, the resultant meal should be
higher in nutritionally available energy.
With today’s high cost of supplying feed
energy, such a change would represent
considerable incremental value. In
addition, other nutritional benefits could
result as well.
Preliminary chick feeding trial work
with some early materials indicated a
potential for improving the metabolizable
energy of soybean meal for poultry by
approximately 90 kcal/lb. For every 100
lb. of soybean meal fed, this represents
an additional 9,000 kcal.
Supplying this amount of energy using
animal fat at 3,800 kcal/lb. equates to 2.3
lb. of fat. Multiplying 2.3 lb. of fat by the
current price for animal fat would provide
a static estimate of added value per 100
lb. of soybean meal fed.
Some newer materials in the pipeline
have even lower levels of raffinose and
stachyose.
Better nutrient use
In the absence of detailed information,
a typical approach is to assume the
worst. This results in all products being
described in terms of the lower portion
of the quality spectrum and valued
accordingly.
One result is that a majority of
product ends up being underutilized and
undervalued. This is a lost efficiency that,
if reclaimed, has an immediate impact on
the product’s value proposition.
While soybean meal is typically
considered to be more consistent in
composition than other bulk ingredient
sources of supplemental protein, it
does still vary. Whether this variation
represents a cost or an opportunity
depends upon how it is managed.
One way to reclaim this lost
value is through measurement. As
mentioned, projects have focused on
the NIRS measurement of soybean meal
constituents, including amino acids.
Tools from these and other efforts are
available for the better management of
compositional variation as it currently
exists.
A second approach is to reduce the
extent of variation by eliminating lowerquality product from the marketplace.
This adds value not only because it
reduces variation-associated risk but, at
the same time, raises the overall average.
One way to accomplish this is to include
soybean composition, in addition to
yield, in the soybean variety selection
process prior to planting.
Handling soybeans and processing
them into meal also play important roles.
Realizing change
Expanding the inherent value of any
business segment creates opportunities
for all who participate in it. Expanding
the value proposition for soybean meal is
one such opportunity.
The information on soybean
compositional variation describes the
potential for improvement both short
term as it relates to today’s crop and
long term as a result of plant breeding.
The measurement tools that have been
developed enable better management
of this variation. If properly used, they
represent an opportunity for improving
the soybean value proposition.
However, information and tools, by
themselves, are not enough. Beneficial
change requires changes in behavior.
USB is now at the stage where the
information that has been developed can
be used to encourage the different but
complementary changes in value chain
behavior required for beneficial change
to occur.
Critical to the success of these
efforts is the relevance of what is being
accomplished with end users of soybean
meal. For more than five years, a group
of industry nutritionists has provided
guidance to USB efforts focused on
improving soybean meal composition
and approaches for the ingredient’s
more effective use. Other outreach
activities have been undertaken as well,
including one with a goal of improving
communication and understanding
between soybean processors and feed
manufacturers.
USB is working to make soybeans a
more effective resource that creates
more value for the feed industry and
that ultimately brings benefit to soybean
farmers, soybean processors and animal
agriculture. ■
Dr. Bajjalieh can be contacted at 217-428-5766 or at [email protected]. For further technical information please visit the Soybean Meal Info Center at www.soymeal.org.